HOMEBREW Digest #298 Wed 08 November 1989

FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:favorite flavored beer recipes? (bellcore.bellcore.com!hera!afd)"Sweet Darkness" stout (Marty Albini)Re: Beer Makers of America (Ed Falk)More on temperature vs SG readings (Doug Roberts at Los Alamos National Laboratory)Flavor Perception Seminar in Boston (Mike Fertsch)Re: recipes (Pete Soper)Recipes ("2645 RUTH, GUY R.")Re: Recipes (Crawford.WBST129)Goose Island (Alan Duester)Recipe Request (b11!maven!dave)A question of infections ("Lance "Turbo" Smith")
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Date: 7 Nov 1989 10:39 EST
From: rutgers!bellcore.bellcore.com!hera!afd at hplabs.HP.COM
Subject: favorite flavored beer recipes?
My roommate and I would like to fire up the home brewery for a special holiday
brew this year. We're also considering doing a batch similar to the imported
fruity beers. 'Sure would like successful recipes for either of these, along
with brewing tips. Post those genius-proof recipes!
-A Dietz
Bellcore, Morristown
bellcore!hera!afd
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 8:38:39 PST
From: Marty Albini <martya at hpsdl39>
Subject: "Sweet Darkness" stout
A while back Doug Roberts posted his recipe for a clone of Mackeson's
Triple Stout. For those unfamiliar with this fine brew (which "looks good,
tastes good, and by golly, it does you good", to quote some old advertising
hype) it is an English milk stout. This is a variety of high gravity
bittersweet ales, usuaally very dark. Mackeson's is generally regarded as the
archetype. This is in contrast with dry stouts, of which Guinness is the best
known example, which do not have a sweet palate at all, and can be quite
bitter.
At any rate, I set out to copy this beer, and Doug kindly supplied the
following recipe:
"Sweet Darkness"
----------------
7# of Australian Light Syrup (From Great Fermentations in Seattle)
1# Chocolate, cracked
1 1/2# Black Patent, not cracked
12 oz crystal, cracked
12 oz lactose (Again, from Great Fermentations: a good supply house)
2 oz Kent Goldings whole hops
1 tsp salt
1 tsp citric acid
2 1/2 tsp nutrient (Yep, Great Fermentations)
I brought the wort to a boil (water & syrup to make about 3 gallons),
then added the crystal. I boiled for about 10 minutes, then added the
hops. Boiled for about 5 minutes, turned the heat off & added the
chocolate & black patent in a grain bag and let it steep for about 10
minutes. I then sparged the grain bag with ~2 gallons of boiling
water. Finally, I added the lactose.
The start S.G. was 1.057, which translates to a potential alcohol of
7.8 percent. The end S.G. was 1.022 prior to kegging, (I use those 5
gallon stainless steel kegs that they use to distribute coke syrup to
snack bars) six weeks after the boil. The 1.022 S.G. meant a residual
of 3.0%, for an alcohol content of 4.8% I primed with 3/4# of light
dry malt extract disolved in a couple cups of the (heated) wort. After
aging about three months, it was as wonderfully smooth, dark and sweet
as the real Mackeson.
Maybe better.
I deviated from this, of course. I was nervous about boiling grains,
so I steeped in grain bags (btw, you'll need LOTS of grain bags to make this!)
and could only find a six pound container of Australian extract, so I used a
pound of dry PME. Consequently, my gravity came out to 1.060. I also skipped
the citric acid.
Well, last night I tried it. It's only been in the keg about five
days, but I got impatient. I had a bottle of The Original to compare against,
and conducted a blind tasting on a handy subject (my wife).
She picked out the clone right away by color. Mac's is
bottom-of-the-well black, with a beige head; this brew was dark brown with an
off-white head. Very similar aromas, and head retention was also about even.
Mac's has a good bit more body, about the same sweet foretaste, and a LOT more
black patent "burnt coffee" bite in the aftertaste. Doug's recipe is, IMHO,
better balanced between bitter and sweet, and doesn't have the "nasty" quality
of the original. It's still somewhat raw, being less than a week old, so it
should mellow even more, but it's quite drinkable now.
Overall, a resounding success.
One or two things I'll do differently next time. For all the black
patent malt in the recipe, there wasn't much effect. I think I'll drop down to
a half pound, but crushed. It's definitely sweet enough, but could use more
body, so I might add some dextrin once I figure out how much I need. I might
add just a touch of roasted barley as well. OK, three things.
A large "thank you" to Doug for posting the recipe. I reccommend it to
anyone who likes their coffee strong, with cream and sugar. Or just likes good
beer!
--
________________________________________________Marty Albini___________
"To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks."
phone : (619) 592-4177
UUCP : {hplabs|nosc|hpfcla|ucsd}!hp-sdd!martya
Internet : martya%hp-sdd at hp-sde.sde.hp.com (or at nosc.mil, at ucsd.edu)
CSNET : martya%hp-sdd at hplabs.csnet
US mail : Hewlett-Packard Co., 16399 W. Bernardo Drive,
San Diego CA 92127-1899 USA
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 10:34:42 PST
From: falk at Sun.COM (Ed Falk)
Subject: Re: Beer Makers of America
I got a couple requests for more info about Beer Makers of America
Beer Makers of America is on 4th st. in San Jose. I forget their address, but
they're in the phone book (that's why I went originally, they're the *only*
brew-supplier in the phone book). It's only open 10-5 Thu-Sat, he does mail
order the rest of the week. The owner is a somewhat surly person. He'll be
only too glad to tell you how when beer-making was legalized, he tried to form
a nationwide club called Beer Makers of America, but Charlie Papazian, who
doesn't know as much as he does, beat him to it. Etc., etc., etc.
The owner is also pretty un-helpful if you have beginner's questions. Once
when I was in there, there were a couple of glass carboys on the floor by the
entrance. The owner couldn't remember how they got there, and then remembered
that they'd been left there by a customer who had stomped out of the store
when he'd been rude to her. She had been asking "dumb questions".
He has an 800 number for his mail-order business too. I've never ordered
anything by mail because he charges 10% extra.
However, if you already know what you want, it's the cheapest and most
convenient place I've found (so far).
If you want friendly help, "Let's Brew" in Morgan Hill are nice people and
they've been happy to answer my questions on the phone. It's a bit of a drive
from the Bay Area though.
I'm still looking for good sources in the Bay Area; I'm going to try to find
the Fermentation Settlement next.
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 11:44:05 MST
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts at Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Subject: More on temperature vs SG readings
I bet you'd thought this one was dead, didn't you :-}...
I finally received on inter-library loan the reference that I had requested.
It's called Standard Density And Volumetric Tables, Circular of the Bureau of
Standards, No. 19. It's an old document: Goerge K. Burgess was the director of
the Bureau of Standards when this was published in 1924, if that means
anything to anyone. (The price of the document was 15 cents back then.)
Anyhow, the table I wanted was on page 23, Temperature corrections to readings
of Saccharometers (standard at 20C.) The heading of the table states:
[This table is calculated using the data on thermal expansion of sugar
solutions by Plato, assuming the instrument to be of Jena 16 glass. The table
should be used with caution and only for approximate results when the
temperature differs much from the standard temperature or from the temperature
of the surrounding air]
The table contains correction factors to be added to the SG reading when the
temperature is above 20C, and to be subtracted from the reading when the
temperature is below 20C. I plotted the table for a 5 percent sugar solution
for the following temperatures above 20C:
C Corr.
---------
21.0 0.05
22.0 0.10
23.0 0.16
24.0 0.22
25.0 0.28
26.0 0.34
27.0 0.41
28.0 0.47
29.0 0.55
30.0 0.62
35.0 1.01
40.0 1.45
45.0 1.94
50.0 2.48
55.0 3.07
60.0 3.72
The regression results are:
Number of observations = 16
Mean of independent variable = 33.75
Mean of dependent variable = 1.054375
Standard dev. of ind. variable = 12.47664
Standard dev. of dep. variable = 1.150913
Correlation coefficient = .9943109
Regression coefficient (slope) = 0.09172056
Standard error of coefficient = 0.00262603
t-value for coefficient = 34.92745
Regression constant (intercept) = -2.041194
Standard error of constant = 0.09413504
t-value for constant = -21.68368
Analysis of variance
Source d.f Sum of squares Mean Square F
Regression 1 19.64356 19.64356 1219.927
Residual 14 .2254314 0.01610224
Total 15 19.86899
The most pertainent figure, of course, is the Correlation coefficient of
0.9943109. This says that the relationship between temperature & SG reading
(within the specified temperature range) is pretty linear.
I didn't do a regression analysis for temperatures below 20C, but I can if
anybody's interested.
--Doug
================================================================
Douglas Roberts |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |I can resist anything
Box 1663, MS F-602 | except temptation.
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 | ...
(505)667-4569 |Oscar Wilde
dzzr at lanl.gov |
================================================================
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 09:25 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Flavor Perception Seminar in Boston
The Boston Wort Processors Homebrew Club will be conducting a Flavor
Perception seminar on Tuesday evening, November 28. All local homebrewers who
want to learn more about defects and off-flavors in beer are welcome to
attend.
Jay Hersh (formerly from Troy Homebrewers) will be running the seminar. He
will "doctor" beers using a range of solutions and other methods to develop
standards for diacetyl, skunkiness, oxidation, phelolics, and other
off-flavors which can develop in beer. These standards are useful when
evaluating beers and trying to pinpoint defects.
Jim Koch, owner of the Sam Adams Brewery, has agreed to allow Jay and the Wort
Processors to use the tasting room at his brewery in Jamaica Plain, Boston for
this educational event. If individuals are interested, please contact Jay at
617-395-4745, or reply to me via e-mail. We need a firm headcount by 14
November. Jay estimates the cost will be $4-$5 to pay for beer and chemicals.
Mike Fertsch
fertsch at meccad.ray.com
fertsch%meccad.ray.com at a.cs.uiuc.edu
{any other path - see mailer header!}
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 15:15:51 EST
From: Pete Soper <soper at maxzilla.encore.com>
Subject: Re: recipes
The Dave Miller book has some very reasonable mash recipes, but I would add
two warnings. First, his hop bittering levels may come out a bit too bitter if
you 1) very vigorously boil a very thin wort and 2) use very fresh pellet
hops. For cases where the sweet wort gravity is low I cut back around 10% from
his recommendations. Secondly, beginners should figure on getting 10-20% less
extract efficiency than Miller, so the grain quantities need to be scaled up
to adjust for this. Once you've made a batch or two you can then tweak this
adjustment to a final value.
Oh, one last thing. Don't try to replicate the (I think) Marzen beer recipe.
I think this is the one. It is the one that calls for 10 pounds of "homemade
Vienna malt". Since the "homemade" process will denature all the malt enzymes
there are none left to mash the grain for this recipe. I don't know what the
story was supposed to be with this one.
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Date: 7 Nov 89 15:29:00 MDT
From: "2645 RUTH, GUY R." <grruth at sandia.gov>
Subject: Recipes
If any of you subscribe to any of the American Homebrewers Association publi-
cations, you might try obtaining the Winner's Circle thru the Beer Lover's
StoreThe Winner's Circle is a compilation of winning recipes from the last ten
National Homebrewers Competitons.
-- Guy
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Date: 7 Nov 89 12:23:35 PST (Tuesday)
From: Crawford.WBST129 at Xerox.COM
Subject: Re: Recipes
Jim Broglio Writes:
>Does any one have a favorite recipe???
>One that is truly inspiring, which keeps the interest in
>brewing at it's peak. A recipe that keeps the neighbors
>coming over to "socialize".
and Douglas Roberts writes:
>Can anyone recommend a good source of mash recipes?
I have had good luck looking through the contest winners in Zymurgy magazine.
They have also just published a book that is the winning recipes of the last
ten years of the National homebrew competition.
Does anybody have a good source of mail order liquid yeast cultures? I have
been going to Meyers Cider Mill here in Rochester but often they are out of
the particular type of yeast I want. Is there a problem of the yeast dying in
the mail?
One more question. I usually pay around $1.19 per pound for malted barley.
I've checked some mail order catalogs but by the time you add shipping the
cost have gone quite high. Does $1.19 sound reasonable?
Greg Crawford
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 20:36:20 EST
From: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu (Alan Duester)
Subject: Goose Island
I was in Chicago last weekend and stopped in for dinner with some friends at
the Goose Island Brewery, 1800 N. Clyborne, (312) 915-0071. I recommend that
you stop in if you can. I certainly am when I next get back to Chicago. They
have a banquet hall that can handle groups of 500 in addition to the main bar
and restaurant areas.
The building is an old factory converted to a small mall. Decor tends toward
yuppie fern bar style. Food is mixed in quality and portion size. Entree style
dinners are geared more towards flash than fill, while the sandwiches come on
large platters. Appetizers are a tad expensive for what you get, but they are
good quality. The beer is marvelous. I was a trifle disappointed in the darker
brews, as I thought they needed more body. The porter was fairly light and
lacking. But then, my own Deadly Dark is so dark you can't see a dive light
through the neck of the bottle, and my "light" beer is about the color of
Beck's dark.......
The pilsner was astounding. Nice & hoppy, and I had trouble keeping my tongue
from jumping out of my mouth to go swimming in it! After doing in their
sampler (5 six oz. glasses), I ordered another full pilsner. It was
surprising, as my tastes don't tend to run to that end of the spectrum.
Unfortunately, the waitress couldn't provide me with any information on the
types of hops used, etc. Just your standard "The hot wort is then pumped..."
info sheet explaning how beer is made, plus the brewmeisters resume.
========================================================================
Al Duester, Ocean Engineer, MS S201 # SPAN: 6308::capnal
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution # INTERNET: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu
Woods Hole, MA 02543 # GEnie: A.DUESTER
(508) 548-1400 x2474
(508) 457-2000 auto-receptionist for touch tone phones
========================================================================
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 12:24:33 CST
From: ingr!b11!maven!dave at uunet.uu.net
Subject: Recipe Request
I recently had some Bellhaven Scottish Ale and would love to try making a
similar tasting beer. Does anyone have a recipe for Scottish Ale (the closer
to Bellhaven the better) and for that matter, what gives Scottish Ale its
distinctive taste?
Thanks.
--
Dave Bradford ...uunet!ingr!b11!maven!dave (UUCP)
b11!maven!dave at ingr.com (Internet)
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 20:46:23 CDT
From: "Lance "Turbo" Smith" <lsmith at umn-cs.cs.umn.edu>
Subject: A question of infections
Maybe one of our local microbiology experts can help me track down some off
flavours/problems in a recent batch of beer.
OK, the beer in question was a Scottish Ale made from two cans of Geordie
Scotch Export and some additional hops. After brewing the beer I managed to
cause myself some grievous injury and wasn't able to rack it as soon as
possible. In the end it sat in the primary fermentor (7-gallon glass carboy)
for a little over 4 weeks. F.G. looked ok based on the recipe I was using.
Yeast was Whitbred Ale yeast from Crosby and Baker (?)
When bottling came around I added the customary 3/4 cup corn sugar boiled in a
pint of water to a plastic bottling bucket (William's) and syphoned in the
beer. My bottles had a 30 minute soak in H20/Cl solution (about three
tablespoons in 4 gallons) with a hot water rinse and drip dry. The bottle caps
weren't boiled because the inner ceils boiled off the first ones I tried.
(Some sort of damned lotto contest.)
The problem: harsh taste and massive amounts of carbonation. The beer took a
long time to develop any carbonation. I thought that after a fast ferment that
the yeast may have packed it in. Initially, the flavor was correct with the
appropriate levels of sweetness and malt. Now the flavor is distinctly harsher
with a slight citrus/sour overtone. The carbonation has taken on massive
proportions with all but the most careful pours producing a glass of foam.
There is also a significant amount of yeast(?) residue on the bottom of the
bottles, although it doesn't look as fine as yeast usually does. There is no
ring-around-the collar or rope.
So any guesses about what went wrong or where it sneaked in from? I would like
to avoid a recurrence if at all possible, since the first tastes indicated a
good batch. I'm guessing some sort of bacterial infection brought in by the
bottle caps, but have no hard evidence to confirm that. Ideas?
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #298, 11/08/89